Link exchanges are nearly useless for SEO purposes, so don’t spend a lot of time on this!

The type of link exchange I’m referring to here offers almost zero SEO benefit. This type of link exchange is for complimentary websites only and they must be in your niche. We are talking about generating traffic here, right? For example: You sell Ipods and you find a site that specializes in Ipod accessories. This would be worth your effort to exchange links with this site because your clients can benefit from their services and their clients can benefit from yours.

A better way of thinking of a link exchange is to trade traffic. If someone goes to a site that has products that compliment yours, it would be mutually beneficial for you to set up an arrangement with the site owner to place a link to your site stating something like:

For complimentary widgets click here.

You would then do the same and send potential customers back and forth. This also works with affiliate links. You can sign up with a company like Linkshare and send people to a site where it will earn you commission if they buy through the affiliate link you provide them.

This is done in the adult website industry quite often. They don’t look at their customers like most other online industries. They do use affiliate links here and there, but why let a customer leave without sending them to someone you would like to help out.

This kind of philosophy would do well in nearly any niche, but finding someone that agrees with that thought is easier said than done. Instead of losing a customer forever, you would be better off giving them an option to go to a site that belongs to someone that you know and like.

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